


Not Your Battle

by SuperSaiyanMistake (IdiotApprenticeBeansprout)



Category: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, North City High (AU)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-26
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2018-02-10 11:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2022705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdiotApprenticeBeansprout/pseuds/SuperSaiyanMistake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>North City High is an elite high school, both famous and infamous for its students astounding skill and potential. Being the son of Bulma Briefs and heir to the Capsule Corp legacy opened the school's door wide for Trunks, test scores and athleticism wrote his name on the accepted list before the list was compiled. With the luxury of the school and surrounding student housing complexes, North City High looks like a real paradise, and a really nice cover for the tyranny that has turned the school grounds into a deadly battle zone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Dragon Ball or any of its characters or rights. This is a purely fan-made work and I make no money off of it.
> 
> Now that the legal stuff is out of the way, welcome to the first chapter. Thank you for coming this far and I hope you stick around!  
> This story is going to eventually take a turn for a Gohan x Trunks pairing. Other pairings may be hinted at. More than likely, there will be scenes of violence. I can't imagine anyone would be too surprised by that, though.

_Well, I guess he counts as a familiar face._ Trunks looked in the way of the former orientation leader. Freshmen had flocked around him like outcasts in search of a haven. His bright, though somewhat dorky smile and conversation did not push a single one of them away. Trunks let out a breath and looked to his schedule. He hadn't been in Gohan's orientation group.  _Even if I had..._ He smiled to himself and let out a breath, wondering if he would be joining his soon-to-be-peers in their flagging of the friendly upperclassman. 

 

“You really think so?” Gohan's voice rose in volume, enough to where Trunks and several other students had to look back. Gohan's face quickly turned contemplative. “Hmm...” The chatter drown out part of the conversation. “-part time job, you know!” He scratched the back of his head, something akin to discomfort showing on his expression.

 

“Maybe next season we'll get lucky.” Another student spoke before lifting a hand in a not too friendly farewell.

 

“Do you seriously think he'd join the team? He might hurt his writing hand.” A male spoke sarcastically as the two walked away from Gohan and his freshmen entourage.

 

“Hey, coach said that if I didn't ask him, I wouldn't start a game until February.” The first responded, throwing his hands up in defeat. Trunks listened to the conversation, trying to piece together what he could. What team? And did the coach want Gohan to join? Or was it part of some inside joke? There were too many unanswered questions to form much of an opinion other than that Gohan was recognized outside the freshmen class. That much was not surprising.

 

The crowds in the halls thinned as students moved to their respective classes. He'd gotten into the habit of it well enough and fell in line with the students moving in the direction he intended to go. Morning classes were finished. One more class to go before lunch, gym.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

_I wonder what kind of orientation the gym coach is gonna give._ Trunks mused to himself, changing into his gym uniform. He had been assigned his gym locker, saving him and every other freshmen the trouble of choosing something so 'important' on their own. A few jocks from older classes gave out advice and rankings on the usefulness of the position of the lockers. Trunks' was not particularly good and not particularly bad.  _That's... interesting._ He looked around, recognizing some students from his earlier classes. 

 

“Everyone! Sit down!” Several coaches shouted at the students that filled the small gym. “I said sit down!” Whistles blew, coaches shouted. It was the typical gym class scenario. Trunks found an open spot in a mix of students. The minute he sat, he regretted his choice in seating.

 

“It's wet.” A girl next to him warned. Promptly after he'd sat in it. “You... Probably figured that out by now.” She shifted her weight, clearly embarrassed.

 

“Do I want to know why?” He asked, rising slowly. _Mother, I never thought I would say this, but I am so glad you bought four uniforms._ The girl burst into laughter.

 

“You're funny!” She pointed to a guy approaching with paper towels. “He spilled his energy drink all over the place like a total goof.” The guy lifted the paper towels in greeting.

 

“Looks like I don't need this anymore. Thanks! Uh,” He gestured toward a person sitting not too far from Trunks. “Hey, Sam. Let the baseball team know the purple haired kids got prop points. Bench warmer status!” Though the words weren't exactly a compliment, the guy that spoke them spoke them with such genuine happiness that, for a minute, Trunks wondered if he'd accidentally gotten himself on to the baseball team.

 

“That's not how it works, idiot.” The one called Sam spoke, clearly having had too much to do with the energy drink dropper to want to say anything else.

 

“I'm going to change.” Trunks motioned toward the locker room. He was offered a paper towel.

 

“What do you think he's going to do with one paper towel, Erik? Dry one ass cheek? God I wish you'd transferred.” Erik and Sam's bickering prevented Trunks from saying more. _Note to self. The baseball team is kind of weird._

 

Trunks pulled the locker room door shut behind him and made his way back to his locker. The bell rang, indicating that Trunks' misfortune had landed him a tardy slip. For a second, he considered returning to the gym for attendance and to let his coach know that he'd be back after he changed. A crash and shout coming from somewhere in the back of the locker room changed his mind. Voices from the gym made it hard to hear, but there were definitely voices coming from inside the room.

 

“Not this year.” The voice was familiar, but the tone made it hard to place. It sounded like Gohan.

 

“Heh. You really think you're something, don't you? Maybe it's time we stop playing around.”

 

“Maybe it is.”

 

Trunks put his hand on the locker, trying to get a look at the two without being seen. Though his view was skewed, he was fairly certain he knew at least one of the two. Trunks shook his head and returned to his locker. He had no place in whatever was going on.

 

He changed into a clean gym uniform and relocked his locker. The talking from before continued for only a short while. Trunks tried to keep the door in view. He heard a door open and shut, but he was unable to see who it was that left. Somewhat disappointed, Trunks returned to the gym entrance.

 

“Get down!” The loud shout was followed by an instant collision. He was pulled beneath one of the old benches with ease. Electricity crackled through the fluorescent lights on the ceiling. The noise was soon drown out by glass shattering and wires whirring. The locker room was pitch black aside from the occasional spark.

 

“What the-” Trunks was interrupted by a wire swinging dangerously close to where he sat. He lifted an arm to shield his face, but the impact never came. Someone pushed him to the ground, a portion of their weight remaining on him even after he'd fallen. When he lowered his arm, in the sparks of the falling lights, he understood why. Gohan, face stern with concentration, watched every inch of the ceiling, backpack held to the side, ready to shield against the glass and wire. His other arm was on Trunks' back, putting himself between Trunks and harm. Eventually, the falling stopped. Backup lights filled the room with an eerie glow. Gohan relaxed and sat up, finally letting the pressure off Trunks.

 

“Are you okay?” He asked, pushing his backpack to the side. What wasn't discolored from burns had holes ripped in it, but neither he or Gohan had a scratch on them. Gohan looked in the direction of the locker room entrance and gritted his teeth. The one that had left, Trunks was sure, had been the one to cause this. Gohan's expression confirmed it.

 

“Yeah. Thanks to you. Who was that?” He asked, sitting up.

 

“That's 17.” Gohan looked to Trunks then, his expression serious. “He is someone you will not interact with any under circumstances. Understood?”

 

“Y-yes.” Trunks answered quickly, before he'd understood what he'd agreed to or why.

 

“Come on. You'd better get to class.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

Trunks returned to his seat in the gymnasium, still too frazzled from the earlier events to shake his focus from it. How had no one else noticed? Conversation had gone on like nothing had happened. Then again, nothing had happened. There was some broken glass on the locker room floors and some scorch marks here and there. Other than that, there was no evidence that it had happened. Moreover, there was no evidence that it was not an accident.

 

The coaches called attendance, repeating names frequently and with different attempted accents in the efforts to alert the students to the fact that their name was the name being called.

 

“Hey. Have they gotten past the B's yet?” Trunks asked the student beside him. She nodded quickly then raised her hand. Apparently she'd been waiting for her name to be called. She immediately turned to her friend and began speaking. It sounded like a conversation that had been stopped in mid-sentence.

 

“Oh, sorry.” She turned back to Trunks then nodded toward the coach. “He's our teacher. You can probably just raise your hand at the end or something.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Yep.” She returned to her conversation, unperturbed. Trunks leaned back in his seat, half-listening to the names being called and the respective students that claimed the name as their own. It was an attempt at trying to ease back into focusing on classes. _Good thing it's gym._ He mused, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his leg. Even if more than syllabus explanation was going on, consciousness was good enough to make it through the class. Fortunately, he never needed to worry about having to try overly hard to achieve the fitness goals. He was good at it, not that he didn't work to be that way.

 

 _I wonder what class Gohan has now._ Trunks sighed, furrowing his brow as he looked around. Gohan had left through the locker room's front entrance. Trunks, obviously, had left through the exit for the gym. _I wonder why he was there in the first place._ Android 17 was also no where in sight, though that was more of a relief than anything else.

 

After a longer while than was needed, attendance drew to an end.

 

“Anyone whose name I did not call?” Trunks raised his hand at the question. Several others did the same.

 

“Trunks Briefs.” He answered when he was pointed to, an indication to identify himself.

 

“And you, young lady.” The coach gestured toward a blonde student. She sat among the students but still seemed separate from them. Something about her posture said so.

 

“18.” She answered shortly.

 

“Is he new?” The girl beside Trunks asked, gesturing toward the gym teacher.

 

“He's probably just trying not to give her any special notice. Trying to keep face or something, pretend they don't have that much control here.” Her friend answered. Trunks looked toward 18 again, a sense of recognition flashed as he noticed her eyes. Though he'd only got a brief glance, he'd seen the same intensely blue eyes just moments before. _They must be related._ 18 locked eyes with Trunks and rose an eyebrow, daring him to either speak or look away. He looked away and instantly regretted it. He heard her scoff.

 

Despite that, the class was uneventful. Students chattered back and forth, coaches blew whistles trying to get attention from the students, then class ended. Trunks looked to 18 once more before making his way to the locker room. She did not seem to notice. Her attention was on the other side of the room, but, as far as Trunks could tell, there was nothing there. She smiled and walked toward the woman's locker room.

 

Trunks looked around the locker room. As far as he could tell, the fight hadn't happened. Everything had been cleaned up. It seemed like the remnants of the fight had been covered up with a practiced efficiency. With a sense of unease, Trunks changed back into his school uniform, retrieved his backpack, and left for his next class.

 

 _Just what kind of school is this?_ Trunks took a seat beside a student absorbed in conversation with the girl sitting to his left. A tired-looking man entered the room and wrote the course title on the board.

 

“The school board has decided to change the course name to an introduction to biology, but do not let that mislead you. By the time you leave this class, you'll go point for point with the doctors.” He picked up a stack of syllabus papers. “Or you'll fail.” He placed a syllabus on Trunks' desk, though still speaking to the class as a whole. “Your choice.”

 

After the man had finished going through the expected schedule for units and their corresponding exams, the door opened.

 

“Oh, right. They decided to send you all a beacon. Class, this is Gohan.” He gestured offhandedly toward him, a look of sarcastic humor on his face. “The board also thinks I'm 'too tough' of a teacher, so this punk is going to help you out after hours. Thank him.” Trunks watched him in disbelief. _How is this the same guy?_

 

“Hello.” Gohan lifted a hand, looking uncomfortable to be standing in front of the large class but still as pleasant as could be.

 

“Sit down already. This isn't Disneyland and you're not Cinderella.” The professor pointed toward a second desk in the front of the room.

 

“Yes, sir.” Gohan spoke with a smile on his face, not at all fazed by the blunt or insulting manner in which the man spoke. He sat at the lesser of the two desks and took his notes from his backpack.

 

“If you have a question, ask him. If you raise your hand during my class, we'll be dissecting it next period.” The man shot a look toward a student, one who probably had not done anything. “Any questions?” He looked around. “Good. Then we're starting. We'll begin with the cell.” As the man explained the components with no lack of detail, Gohan quickly drew related diagrams on the board, labeling everything.

 

By the end of the class, every inch of the board was covered and every student looked as if they'd considered selling their soul to the devil.

 

“Class is over. Don't leave until the bell rings. My name is Dr. Edwards. See you tomorrow.” With that, he shut the textbook he had not looked at once and left the room.

 

“D-did he...” One of the students spoke in disbelief. Gohan looked toward the door then back to the class.

 

“If anyone has any questions, I'd love to help.” He looked around the room, eyes stopping on Trunks. He blinked a few times before turning back to the diagrams on the board.

 

“Is Mr. Edwards-”

 

“Sorry to cut you off, but uh, just to be safe, never call him 'mister Edwards.' Even if you think he's not there, call him 'Doctor Edwards.' Just... Just trust me on this one.” Gohan watched as the door opened again. Dr. Edwards strode toward the desk, picked up his suitcase, and left again. This earned laughter from the students when he left, though the laughter was quiet. Quiet and afraid.

 

“That answers my question.” The student lowered their head and sighed. Trunks lifted his hand, earning an almost nervous recognition from Gohan.

 

“Yes?” Gohan regained his composure quickly, the characteristic smile comfortable on his lips.

 

“So the Krebs Cycle is in the mitochondria and the citric acid cycle is in the cytoplasm?” Trunks asked, looking at his notebook then back to Gohan. For some reason, he looked relieved.

 

“Actually, Krebs and citric acid are interchangeable terms.” He looked thoughtful for a moment then shook his head. “Yeah. We'll go into more detail in later courses, but that's what you need to know for this course. Glycolosis is in the cytosol. You can say cytoplasm and still get full points.” He gestured toward one of the diagrams.

 

“Oh.” Trunks crossed out the mistake in his notes and wrote in the correction. “Glycolosis is the anaerobic one?”

 

“That's right!” Gohan answered brightly. Before either could say more, the bell rang. Trunks nodded in thanks and packed up his things. As he left, Gohan put a hand on Trunks' shoulder to get his attention. “You're Trunks, right?”

 

“Yeah. Gohan, right?” He asked, mirroring the question.

 

“Right.” He nodded toward the door, indicating Trunks follow him. “I wanted to apologize for earlier.” He started and rubbed the back of his head. It sounded more like he was apologizing for cutting him off in traffic.

 

“Apologize?” Trunks questioned, looking up at him. “If it wasn't for you, I'd be minced and fried. I really owe you.”

 

“You don't owe me a thing.” Gohan stopped to let a student pass by before going on. “I want you to stay out of harm's way, so just pretend you never saw anything, okay?” He looked Trunks in the eye, his expression honest and sincere.

 

“Why?” Trunks asked, curiosity piqued. Gohan sighed.

 

“Because it doesn't involve you.”

 

“Fine.” Trunks spoke, indignity clear in his voice.

 

“Look,” Gohan placed his hand on Trunks' shoulder, stopping him. “You're going to have enough going on with classes and whatever else you join. You don't have time to be dealing with a bunch of nonsense. It's all petty.” Something about Gohan's expression told him this wasn't entirely true. “Every school has its gossip, right?” He spoke with more enthusiasm then, though the earlier sincerity was gone. “It may be fun for a while, but it's not worth the stupidity that comes with it.”

 

“Oh, I see.” Trunks examined Gohan's face for any sign of... well, anything that would give him more information.

 

“Good.” Gohan smiled, his expression saying that he was scrutinizing Trunks just as intently. The bell rang, indicating the start of class.

 

“I'd better go.” Trunks turned to check the number on the door, surprised to see that they had stopped just outside it.

 

“Hey, Trunks?” Gohan called.

 

“Yeah?” Trunks turned back, hand on the doorknob.

 

“Try to stay out of trouble, okay?” The two locked eyes for a moment.

 

“Yeah. Alright.” Trunks nodded once before entering the classroom. He took an open seat and looked toward the door. _There is something weird going on here, isn't there?_ He sighed and took out a clean notebook. _And it doesn't look like it'll be easy to figure out._ He had trouble keeping from grinning. There were some things he and his mother had in common. One of these was the refusal to overlook a great adventure. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading. If you have any comments, critiques, or suggestions; I would love to hear from you.


End file.
